Gojushiho

Meaning: This kata means “54” or “54 steps”; also the movements of the black tiger.

History: It is said that the meaning came from one of two things. First the kata was either the 54 kata taught to practitioners at the time or the kata originally had 54 steps in it. There is one last legend regarding the origin of this name. Legend has it that Bodhidharma originally taught 18 movements to the Chinese monks of the Shaolin Temple. It has been recorded that over the centuries that number was expanded upon with the techniques of native Chinese arts being incorporated into the training. The next specific number of these exercises is 54. Fukien White Crane is reputed to have been developed by a woman who had been taught some of the Five Animal Curriculum by her father before he was killed. Due to this some authors have speculated that Gojushiho was actually developed from this extension of the original 18 movements taught by Bodhidharma. This kata is noted to be one of the oldest kata still being practiced. The originally Chinese name of this kata was “Useishi”. The movements of Gojushiho are also found in the Bubishi, an ancient Chinese text on martial arts. In the Bubishi this kata is referred to as “Fifty four steps of the Black Tiger” or “Fifty four steps of the Black Tiger and use of the White Crane fist”. It is believe that this kata was brought to Okinawa by Bushi Matsumura. There are now two main versions of this kata the Shuri-te version (which is the one that we perform) and the Tomari-te version. The Tomari-te version has a movement in the middle which resembles the movements of a drunken man. These movements have also caused this kata to be named “Drunken Mans Form”. While the Shuri-te version has a side to side movement, it is not performed to resemble a drunken man.

What to Get Out of This Kata: This kata is invaluable to a student’s development. It teaches many different techniques. Students will learn how to strike effectively with a spear hand and with a chick bead.  This kata teaches how to defend when an opponent has grabbed you from behind.  This kata teaches many takedowns to it's practitioners.  Students learn to put movements into both punches of a double punch.  This kata teaches how to throw an opponent to the ground.

 

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